Surf City May Soon Sport Scruffy Look

Huntington Beach may attract tourists with its new resorts, boutiques and restaurants, but city officials say it’s just a matter of time before residents begin complaining about the town looking a little worse for the wear.

Sidewalks damaged by tree roots will be temporarily patched with asphalt because the city’s concrete workers have been laid off.

Weeds along street medians and in city parks will go mostly unchecked because the workers who sprayed herbicides also have been laid off.

Residents’ complaints about swarms of bees will be answered -- not immediately by city workers, but by contractors in one to three days.

And city buildings, such as Ruby’s Diner on the pier, will receive less maintenance. Trees won’t be trimmed as often and burned-out streetlights won’t be replaced promptly.

All of this, starting next week, because of the city’s budget crunch and a layoff of public works employees.

The effects won’t be immediately apparent, said George Mason, chairman of the city’s finance advisory board, but in time, residents will notice.

“Eventually someone will say, ‘Gee, this used to look better. How come someone hasn’t fixed it?’ The person who fixed it isn’t there” anymore, Mason said.

Huntington Beach was forced to make the staffing cuts in its current two-year budget because of an $11.5-million deficit caused by a weak economy and declining revenue.

Of the 37 city workers laid off, 25 were in the Public Works Department.

Public Works Director Robert Beardsley said the sidewalk-repair crew, which had 18 employees in 1992, was reduced to a four-person crew five years ago and will be eliminated Friday.

The work will eventually get done, but in a less-timely manner, Beardsley said.

“We’re not going to stop doing things,” he said. However, “the biggest concern is deferred maintenance on infrastructure.... We can only patch things for so long before we have to fix them.”

Beardsley has established a small fund in his $15.8-million budget for emergency repairs.

The cuts come at a time when the city is trying to turn its downtown into a vacation and day-tourist destination. Over the years, the seedy surf-town bars and older buildings have been replaced with Spanish-style buildings and restaurants and coffeehouses.

The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa opened in January, and Pacific City, a 31-acre village with condominiums, shops and a resort, is planned.

Mason said there have been no layoffs in the Police and Fire departments, although their staffing levels have been reduced through attrition. While residents may rue the reduction in maintenance, landscaping and other city projects, Beardsley said he is concerned for the human effects of the budget cuts.

“You’re dealing with the livelihood of people who are strong performers,” he said. “These people have done these jobs for years, and they’ve always felt that what they do is beneficial to the city, and all of a sudden they’re told it’s not necessary.”